The good news is that 396 international business events are set to come to Australia, a 3% increase from the January 2017 report. The bad news is that lost business for the future has grown by 7% to 316 business events. A shortening of average business event duration is also predicted to negatively impact total delegate spend.

“There is no doubting the important work that convention bureaux do to secure international business events for Australia; conventions, exhibitions and incentives that wouldn’t otherwise come to the country,” said Andrew Hiebl, CEO of AACB.

“AACB’s members have worked to attract approximately 222,500 international delegates to Australia across the next decade, equating to over half a billion dollars in direct delegate spend.”

“This outcome has been predominantly driven by the strength of our professional bid delivery, financial support put forward by state and local governments, and the industry – overlaid by the fact that Australia is a safe and highly desirable destination to hold an international event.

Although the results are positive, Mr Hiebl says that the number of business events lost remains a concern.

“In parallel to the forward calendar of events secured, we’ve lost 316 future events with the potential for 267,500 international delegates to be attracted to our shores. This lost business equates to more than one billion dollars in direct delegate spend which will now take place in competing countries.

“If Australia is to secure even more international business events, strong consideration should be given to the establishment of a dedicated national convention bid fund, an initiative which other countries now have in place to mitigate the risks of hosting international business events in long-haul destinations.

The current bid pipeline outlines the opportunity, with 206 international bids in play, with an economic benefit estimated at more than half a billion dollars, and 139,000 international delegates.

The Forward Calendar is the most comprehensive audit of future business events attracted to Australia ever produced and comes after an unprecedented data sharing exercise between the AACB’s convention bureau members.